If you want to learn how to program yourself for success, you need to understand that if you put garbage into your head, you will only ever get trashy results in your life!
The human mind runs just like the hard drive on your computer does, only in an unbelievably faster and more efficient manner. However, when it comes to basic programming, the same rules apply: If you put negative stuff in, you will only get negative stuff out.
It is not possible to program a computer – or your mind – with commands that create gibberish and chaos, but then expect what gets displayed on the screen – or in your life – to be orderly, perfect, and effective. If you want to program yourself for success then you need to lock down your mind against every single thought that is not colored with success, bathed in positivity, and wrapped up in an iron-clad sense of expectation.
It’s the Predominant Thoughts that are Hurting You
Many people struggle with reprogramming themselves for success because although they practice positive thinking, they visualize, and they say their affirmations, negativity is still the predominant factor in their life. It isn’t the affirmations and the visualizations that are getting in the way, but rather the thoughts and the feelings that are active the rest of the time!
Most people’s lives have been drenched in negativity for so long that an “offensive” move such as visualizing or saying affirmations is just a drop in the bucket compared to the onslaught of negativity that our minds are subjected to when we are not visualizing or affirming.
The results that we have in our lives are a direct result of the thoughts and feelings that we have, and the actions that we then take as a result of those thoughts and feelings. If the majority of your life is an onslaught of negativity, then your predominant thoughts, feelings and corresponding actions will not be positive.
All you have to do to confirm this is to look around your life right now. Your life’s results are a direct result of your own thoughts, feelings, and actions. If you do not have the results that you want, then your predominant thoughts are not yet programmed for success, but rather are programmed for the lack of it.
How to Break the Cycle and Program yourself for Success
There is no such thing as a “first step” here, because all of these activities should be undertaken every single day, preferably several times per day, if not all day long. Remember, the goal here is to program yourself for success, not to just give yourself a tiny spoonful.
- Do your “feel good processes” over and over again. Full credit goes to Gary Evans and the Manifest a Miracleprogram for the phrase “feel good processes,” because that is exactly what they should be. We’re talking about visualizing, meditating, saying affirmations, practicing gratitude, etc.The entire point behind these practices is to make you FEEL GOOD about whatever it is that you are considering while you do them. Positive thoughts about what you want in your life will create positive results, negative thoughts will create negative results. Period.
- Eliminate or avoid negative influences. For many people, this will mean nothing less than a radical change in their lifestyle. Negative influences can and do include friends, family members, co-workers/employers, the television and printed news, and even the television shows and movies that we watch. Remember: Garbage in = Trashy Results. It doesn’t matter where the garbage comes from.
- Choose carefully what advice to listen to. Avoiding negative influences doesn’t just mean staying away from negative people. It can also mean to ignore negativity that comes from sources that are normally positive or uplifting.Just because you are reading a book that resonates with you, that does not mean that everything in that book is going to lead you down the right path. Make your own choices about what is good in that book vs. what should go in one ear and out the other. Likewise, when seeking counsel from other people, just because they give you advice, you are not obligated to take it! Even a person that you consider to be a positive influence can give you advice that will not resonate with you, or that will not take you where you want to go.
- Surround yourself with never-ending reminders to stay positive. There are countless ways to keep yourself reminded of the fact that you are working towards a more positive state of mind, and towards the successful attainment of your goals. Just as when taking advice, however, you should only use the methods that you are personally comfortable with, rather than using what “most people” consider to be effective. Who cares what “most people” think?Check out the post How to Infect Yourself with the Personal Development Virus for an awesome list of ways to stay on the fast-track to success, and make sure to use a good mix of methods. I would recommend visual methods (vision boards, pictures), audio methods (affirmations, positive recordings), and mental methods (visualization, meditation).
The bottom line to all of these methods to program yourself for success is that they all stress the INTAKE of information. Remember that your mind is like a computer and that what you put in directly affects what you get out. There is no gray area there – that is simply the way it works!
The only way you are going to program yourself for success is to go on the offensive, and to make a conscious effort to not only have a constant intake of positive, success-filled thoughts and feelings, but to also avoid any thoughts and feelings that cancel out your success-driven mentality.
Until you learn to avoid or shield yourself from negative influences that are the opposite of your dreams, you will forever be stuck in a loop of taking one step forward, and one step back!
Aaron:
I absolutely agree with you on the garbage in = trashy results. What you put in there does indeed directly effect what you get out.
Television is a major contributor to mental trash. I wouldn’t say to totally stop watching, although all I watch are Monster Truck shows with my son (You might think that’s trashy, but that’s just because you haven’t seen the look on his face when he is watching. Now, that is worth seeing!). I’m just saying, pay careful attention to what it is you are programming into your brain. Books and even music or radio stations are other contributors.
Jeniffer,
Absolutely – you make excellent points.
It’s not necessarily what you watch, it’s what you get out of it. Some people see Monster Truck shows as a massive waste of time and resources, while you see a the wonderful look on your son’s face. It’s all in what we get out of the experience, and whether or not that takes us in the directions that we want to go.
Radio stations are another excellent example. I actually turn my radio down when the commercials come on, or I change the station when they start talking about something negative. Music is a wonderful thing, but negative, insulting, or obnoxious news, advertisements, or DJ’s do nothing for me!
A-frickin’-Men, Aaron.
I loved this:
“If you want to program yourself for success then you need to lock down your mind against every single thought that is not colored with success, bathed in positivity, and wrapped up in an iron-clad sense of expectation.”
#3 of the solutions really resonated with me. I used to be very all or nothing… if it wasn’t 100% perfect, it was garbage.
Now I know that I don’t have to “drink the Kool-Aid” to get whatever positive benefits I can from any program, no matter what the source.
Thank you, sir, for another awesome post.
Lyman,
Very glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the great positive feedback!
Solution #3 is true to my heart as well. When I first got started down the self improvement path, I used to read/listen to/attend everything, and I realized (thankfully in short order!) that even the best advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt!
I agree wholeheartedly. And there’s way more to what Aaron is saying than positive thinking. It’s all about feeling and putting yourself in a place of receptivity to intuition and opportunity. Then you know exactly what action to take.
As Abraham says, the most important thing is that you feel good.”
Thanks for the comment, Trudi, and I totally agree with what you (and Abraham) have said about putting yourself in the proper feeling place.
Trying to be successful without feeling like someone who is on the success path is like jumping in the water and trying not to get wet – it simply doesn’t work that way! 🙂
Aaron, while I agree with many of your points, I’m a little confused. Where does listening to other viewpoints fit into this system?
It seems that, taken to the extreme, one could label anyone that disagrees with their world view as a “negative influence.” How do you draw the line between people that have lots of negative energy and people who just see things differently than you?
Maria,
That is an excellent question, and the simple answer is that any point of view that does not resonate with you, or does not fill you with feelings of success or empowerment would fall into the “negative” influence sphere.
So many people think that “positive” and “negative” are exact lines that are drawn in the sand, but in truth, both are merely measured from where any given person is standing at the time.
So, when it comes to judging the influence of others to be negative or positive, you simply have to ask yourself if their advice is empowering and full of positive “can do” energy, or if it is more steeped in feelings of lack, insecurity, doubt, etc.
We can all do anything that we can conceive of, so any advice that tells us not to wield that power to the best of our ability is advice not worth taking. 🙂
Good article, if people see there brain and mental processes more as something that they have control over, rather then it having control over them then they are taking the first steps to self empowerment.
Steve,
That is exactly where the line is drawn in the sand for a lot of people. They think that their lives are a result of outside influences, rather than the truth of the matter that each of us controls our lives by creating them from the inside out.
Thanks for your comment!
A nice lucid explanation of why we have to do our inner work thoroughly and not just paste a bandaid over a festering sore and expect it all to be just dandy!
Lexi
Lexi,
What a great analogy for describing this situation! Yes, that is exactly what happens; people slap a few visualizations or affirmations into their day, and then think that years of past (as well as on-going) negative programming are just going to disappear.
Creating a positive, success-filled life requires more than just a bandaid – it’s more like the need for a transfusion!
Thanks, Lexi!